THE vedas are considered to be the ultimate authority by the
Hindus, much like the New Testament and the Quran by the
Christians and Muslims, respectively. The Rigveda is generally believed
to be the oldest of all the four Vedas.

The Rishi Yaska applauds the Moon for its ability to reflect the sunlight
as seen from the Earth (Nirukta 2.6), a fact duly reiterated by the
Rishi Gotama, son of Rishi Rahugana (Rigveda 1.84.15). In those days,
the Full Moon was referred to as Raka and the New Moon as Sinivali (Sayana
Bhasya, and Rigveda 2.33.8). The cause of the eclipses is ascribed
to a demon, called Svarbhanu, striking the Sun with darkness. When the gods
could not discern the Sun (hidden as it was by darkness), they invoked Rishi
Atri who repelled its darkness by chanting four Rik mantras (Rigveda
5.40.5-6) Before he could chant the four Riks, which must have taken at least
50 seconds, Atri must have had to be informed by his disciples or his sons
about the sudden darkness that fell upon the Earth; in which case, the actual
process must have lasted a few minutes--the typical duration of a total solar
eclipse. In the ninth Rik of the same sukta, it is clearly mentioned
that only the students and descendants of Atri knew how to dispel the sudden
darkness which befell the Sun. It can perhaps be interpreted that only these
people knew how to predict the duration of a total solar eclipse.

Even more revealing passages exist in the Pancavimsa Brahmana
which describes Atri's dispelling of the darkness by the four Riks in four
steps: the first part of the darkness he repelled became a reddish sheep (solar
chromosphere), the second part he repelled became a silvery sheep (solar
corona!), the third part again became a reddish one, and the fourth a white
sheep (regaining the original colour.)

One of the six Upavedas or Vedangas, namely the Vedanga
Jyotisa, supposedly composed by Rishi Lagadha around 1300 B.C., makes no
mention of the eclipse calculations, even though the concepts of astronomical
time divisions are present in great detail.

It is also to be noted that Rahu is nowhere mentioned in the Rig, Sama
and Yajurveda. In the Atharvaveda, (13.2.16-18,28) the description
of Ketu is more suited for what we today call a comet. In the primitive form of
astrology, there was no place for Rahu and Ketu, in particular in the manner in
which the division of the twelve houses among the five planets, the Sun and the
Moon was conceived. However, Rahu has been earmarked for a quota of twelve
years in the astottari dasa system, in addition to the quotas for the
seven other regularly wandering celestial objects.

In the original version of the Valmiki Ramayana, a vivid
description of a total solar eclipse is given in the first fifteen slokas
of the twenty-third sarga of the Aranyakandam, but there is
indeed a mention of Rahu as the cause. The description, which appears in the
context of a ravaging war between Khara and Lord Rama is worth quoting:

In the proximity of the Sun
there appeared a dark reddish disc; at an odd hour of the day the evening dusk
approached at an extremely fast pace to be followed by a sudden nightfall;
nothing could be discerned anymore; the birds and the animals became awestricken
and started howling at the top of their voice; the Sun was totally engulfed by
Rahu and appeared to be totally dull, but a big halo was seen around the dark
disc of the Sun; some stars and planets became visible....

In the Navagrahastotrom, supposedly composed by Vyasadeva, the
description of Rahu fits quite well with that of its Pauranika version.
However, the description of Ketu is more akin to that of a comet devouring
stars as well as planets. No eclipse can come in the way of the stars and
planets exclusively, except for the bodies themselves.

It is suggested in the Mahabharata that during the 18- day long
war between the Pandavas and Kauravas, there were only thirteen days between a
Full Moon and a possible total solar eclipse presumed to have been seen over
the battle field of Kuruksetra. Now, as we noted earlier, a similar condition
was invoked in the Holy Quran for prophesying the return of Muhammad in
the future. It is therefore, the expected rarity of such an event that must
have been known to the authors of such holy scriptures.

A sizable portion of the 35th chapter of the Bhagvata Purana is
devoted to narrating a fable as to why Rahu and Ketu are responsible for all
the solar and lunar eclipses. Initially, at some stage,the gods and the demons
were engaged in a great war over a very long period. Lord Visnu persuaded both
the gods and demons for a temporary peace so that the ocean in its entirety
could be churned and both devas and the asuras could benefit from
what the sea had to offer. The gods under the leadership of Indra grabbed the
tail of the king of snakes, Vasuki, who was used as a rope for churning the
ocean, while the demons under the leadership of Vali held the mouth of Vasuki.
The great mountain Mandara acted as the churner. As a result of this churning,
the first to come out was the terrible poison, halahala. It was
voluntarily sucked in by the Lord Siva, but he held it in his throat, the
reason why Siva is also known as Nilakantha. Then out came Surabhi, Kaustubha,
Parijata, Laksmi, the Moon, Varuni (the goddess of wine). And finally emerged
Dhanvanatari, the originator of medicine, with a pot of amritam, the
nectar. The demons ran away with the pot. Lord Visnu acting in the interest of
the gods transformed himself into Mohini, a beautiful woman. Dazzled by her
beauty, the demons offered the pot to Mohini and asked her to distribute the
nectar amongst themselves as she was found to be an appropriate person. Of
course, she gave all the nectar to the gods. One of the demons, Rahu, saw
through the trick and sat in the line in disguise, where the nectar was being
distributed. But before he could swallow the divine nectar, the Sun and the
Moon detected his masquerade and reported it to Lord Visnu, who then chopped
off Rahu's head with his sudarsan cakra. Because Rahu had already drunk
the nectar, he remained alive in spite of his being reduced to a trunkless
body. Since then Rahu has not forgiven the Sun and the Moon. And this is the
reason why, as has been depicted in the style of Pauranik description, every
once in a while Rahu gobbles up the Sun or the Moon and we witness the solar
and the lunar eclipses. Of course, being trunkless he cannot hold either the
Sun or the Moon for long, and they come out safely after a while. With time the
headless trunk of the demon came to be known as Ketu, and the earlier version
of Ketu gracefully turned into what is known as Dhumketu.

Since then, Rahu has become acceptable as the eighth planet, and in the
astrological formulations, we find it in the astottari dasa system.
Later on, another dasa system, called the vimsottai dasa system, was
introduced which referred to nine ruling planets, the ninth being Ketu.

Sometime in the third century A.D., the era of Siddhantas was ushered in.
The Surya Siddhanta gives detailed methods for making ecliptic
calculations. It was around this time that Rahu and Ketu were astronomically
defined to be the ascending and the descending nodes of the lunar orbit,
intersecting the plane of the Earth's orbit. The astronomical significance of
Rahu and Ketu was reduced to mere imaginary points of intersection between the
lunar orbit and the plane of the ecliptic.

As we have noted earlier, evidence for observation of eclipses is found
in the ancient Indian texts. A solar eclipse finds mention in the
Mahabharata, where Lord Krisna skillfully uses his knowledge of eclipse
predictions to save the life of Arjuna, the great warrior. The accuracy with
which eclipses have been predicted is incredible. In the Indian almanacs, the
time at which an eclipse begins, at which it peaks, and when its ends have all
been given. This entire period of an eclipse is called the parvakala.

Thorough prescriptions of the customs which an orthodox Hindu is supposed
to observe on the eclipse days are given in the Manusmriti, Grahalaghava,
Nirnaya Sindhu, and a number of similar textbooks including Atharvaveda.

It is suggested that the inauspicious period actually begins about four praharas
before a solar eclipse and three praharas before a lunar eclipse, (prahara
being the unit of time equivalent to one-eighth of a day). Since food prepared
during this period is not supposed to be consumed at any time, Hindus generally
observe a fast. The water, clothes, food grains, etc., are sprinkled with the
sacred tulasi leaves. People take a bath as soon as the eclipse begins
and also perform rituals like tarpana, sraddha, homa, prarthana and give
donations. After the eclipse is over, one is suppose to take a bath once again.
To erase the unholy shadow of Rahu that has fallen on one and all and avoid its
ill-effects, another bath is prescribed after the eclipse is over. However,
married women are not allowed to wash their hair.

On the other hand, it is believed that during an eclipse all the water
becomes as pure as the water of the holy river Ganga. Any surging water (say,
waterfall or a fountain) or water in the lakes, river and the seas is regarded
as a good omen, its auspiciousness increasing in the above sequence. The more
pious may go to some sacred place or to the nearest seashore for taking a holy
bath. There is a strong belief that any donation given during the eclipse hours
is most auspicious and valuables such as money, clothes, cows, horses, land and
gold are to be gifted away. The very rich might weigh themselves against brass
or copper utensils or even gold or silver, and the same amount is recommended
for donation. During this period, circling around a cow giving birth to a calf
is equivalent to walking (pradaksina) around the earth.

If the death anniversary of the clan ancestors falls during this period,
the rites are not performed in the usual way by feeding the Brahmanas; instead,
the grahansraddha should be performed with ordinary or uncooked food or,
more simply, by donating gold to the priest. Such rituals can be performed even
at night as there are no restricted hours. This in itself is contrary to most
of the conventional practices which are performed during the daytime, and shows
to what extent our ancestors were awestruck by these celestial phenomena.

It is believed that if the eclipse falls on the third, sixth, eleventh or
tenth rasi house from the zodiacal sign of birth (solar or lunar, depending
on the parts of India one belongs to), it is auspicious and brings good luck to
the native; a solar eclipse falling on the second, seventh, ninth or the fifth
place of the natal rasi is regarded as moderately auspicious; but if it
falls on the fourth, eighth or twelfth place of the natal rasi, it is
considered to be inauspicious and brings bad luck to the person born under
these signs.

Those whose birthdays fall on eclipse days should not look at the Sun,
while others can look at the eclipsed Sun, but not directly. Such a person is
permitted an indirect view of the eclipsed Sun, such as its mirror image from a
pot full of pigmented water, or through a cloth. Besides these, there are
injunctions against shaving, and cutting one's hair or nails on the eclipse
day. This is also the day when no initiative or effort of profound consequence
should be taken, and nor should students engage in serious studies.

Thus eclipses are fascinating not only because they have astronomical
significance, but also ecause they give us insights into the culture, tradition
and beliefs of people belonging to different periods.